milkmaid braids

Brides with long hair have a lot of wedding hairstyle options – some of them even come straight from the pages of high fashion magazines. Milkmaid braids have been making the rounds on the New York runway, particularly in the Oscar de la Renta show, and its dreamy yet simple look is so easy to incorporate into a bride.

To do milkmaid braids, apply a smoothing gel or serum all over your hair to prevent fly-aways and frizz. Part your hair in the center and blow-dry. Using the part as your guideline, form two tight braided pigtails and secure them with a clear hair elastic. Then wrap the braids around the top of your head and secure with bobby pins, carefully tucking in the stray hairs. Brides with shoulder-length hair can also achieve this look by buying a braided hairpiece in the same shade as your hair color. Place the hairpiece on the center and weave your real braids onto the hairpiece, or tuck your hair underneath the hairpiece.

You can either wear these glossy braids on their own or braid in vintage lace or strips of colorful fabric for the “something old” or “something blue” tradition. Mermaid braids can be worn with pretty much any wedding dress type, though they seem more suited for column dresses, vintage dresses, and billowy sheath dresses rather than ballgown dresses and structured dresses.

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